Glassware-forming machine blow mold station

ABSTRACT

The bottom plate adapter at a blow molding station of a glassware-forming machine is selectively movable toward and away from the longitudinal axis of the post on which mold arms are rotatably supported. Mold halves are pivotably supported on the mold arms and adapted to cooperate with the bottom plate adapter. The adapter moves toward and away from the post after the mold arms rotate to a mold open position.

United States Patent Thomas 1 Feb. 115, 1972 [54] GLASSWARE-FORMINGMACHINE BLOW MOLD STATION [72] Inventor: Joseph Thomas, Millville, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Maul Bros., Inc., Millville, NJ.

[22] Filed: Feb. 20, 1970 [21 Appl. No.: 13,252

[52] US. Cl ..65/242, 65/260, 65/261, 65/239, 65/241, 65/229, 65/361,65/360 [51 Int. Cl. ..C03b 9/00 [58] Field of Search ..65/242, 260, 237,239, 241, 65/229, 261, 360, 361

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,601,836 10/ 1926 Stenhouse..65/242 2,018,030 10/1935 ONeill et al ..65/260 X Winder ..65/239Reeves 1,549,920 8/1925 Nigh .65/361 X 1,405,204 l/1922 Graham ...65/237X 2,376,602 5/1945 Kinker ..65/242 X 3,375,915 4/1968 Fouse ..65/241 XPrimary Examiner-Frank W. Miga A!t0rney-Seidel, Gonda & Goldharnmer [57] ABSTRACT The bottom plate adapter at a blow molding station of aglassware-forming machine is selectively movable toward and away fromthe longitudinal axis of the post on which mold arms are rotatablysupported. Mold halves are pivotably supported on the mold arms andadapted to cooperate with the bottom plate adapter. The adapter movestoward and away from the post after the mold arms rotate to a mold openposition.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEHFEB 15 m2 3. 642,462

SHEET 1 OF 3 INVENTOR JOSEPH THO/WA 5 Ari'omvz rs.

PATENTEUFEB 15 m2 SHEET 3 BF 3 INVENTOR JOSEPH THOMA 5 8) MM "Me;

ATTORNEYS.

GLASSWARE-FORMING MACHINE BLOW MOLD STATION This invention relates to aglassware-forming machine, and more particularly, to a blow mold stationof such a machine. The bottom plate adapter is constructed in a mannerwhereby it may be moved toward and away from the post which rotatablysupports the mold arms. The purpose of providing such movement is tosolve the problem presently characteristic of existing machines.

With existing machines, there is a limit to the size of the bottle whichcan be manufactured.- When the mold arms are in their mold openposition, tongs or other mechanical devices are utilized fortransporting the finished glassware to a conveyor. The extent to whichthe mold arms may rotate is fixed. Accordingly, there is a limit whichis reached wherein the bottles can be of no greater diameter. Whenbottles having a diameter greater than the limit are reached, theycannot be moved upwardly since to do so would cause engagement between aportion of the bottle and a shoulder of the mold. The present inventionsolves this problem by making the bottom plate adapter reciprocablewhereby bottles of greater transverse dimensions may be made on existingglasswareforming machines than could otherwise be made on such machines.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use in an LS. machine.These letters stand for the words individual section." An I.S. orindividual section machine is per se known to those skilled in the artand exemplified by US. Pat. No. 1,9] l,l 19. Since such machines arewell known to those skilled in the art, only the blow mold station andthe structure forming a part of the present invention are illustratedand described hereinafter.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel blow moldstation for a glassware forming machine, having a movable bottom plateadapter.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel blowmold station for a glassware forming machine wherein bottles of largertransverse dimensions may be made on the same machine.

It is another object of the present invention to provide means which aresimple, inexpensive and reliable for increasing the transversedimensions of bottles which can be made on existing LS. machines.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in thedrawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood,however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangementsand instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a blow mold station of an individualsection machine showing the mold arms in their mold open position.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a partial end view taken along line 55 in FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate likeelements, there is shown in FIG. 1 a blow mold station of aglassware-forming machine of the LS. type with the mold arms in the moldopen position. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the bottles are of sufficientlylarge transverse dimensions that one of the bottles cannot be movedupwardly without interfering with a portion of the molds.

As shown in FIG. 1, there is provided a vertically disposed post 12 onwhich are rotatably mounted a cooperating pair of mold holder arms 14and 16. A link 18 is rotatably connected to arm 14 to cause actuation ofthe same. A similar link 20 is pivotably connected to arm 16 to effectactuation of the same. Mold halves 22 and 24 are pivotably supported bythe mold arm 14. Mold halves 26 and 28 are pivotably supported by themold arm 16. Mold halves 22 and 26 are adapted to cooperate with oneanother. Mold halves 24 and 28 are adapted to cooperate with oneanother.

The bottles formed within the molds are designated 30 and 32. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the bottle 30 cannot be raised upwardly byremoval tongs without engaging the shoulder on the mold halves 22 and26. In order to facilitate the manufacture of glassware havingtransverse dimensions larger than those permitted by the machine, abottom plate adapter assembly is provided and adapted to move toward andaway from the longitudinal axis of post 12. With the mold arms in theirmold open position, there will be described hereinafter a means forselectively moving the bottom plate adapter assembly in a direction awayfrom the longitudinal axis of post 12. whereby each of the bottles 30and 32 may then be raised vertically by takeout tongs without anyinterference with the mold halves. Such takeout tongs or equivalentdevices are well known to those skilled in the art and need not bedescribed in detail.

The bottom plate adapter assembly includes a bottom plate adapter 34having a slide plate 40 secured to its bottom surface. The slide plate40 is received within a channel on the upper surface of a carriage plate36. The carriage plate 36 is mounted on the upper surface ofa bracket 38which in turn is removably connected to the frame 11. Clamp bars 42 areremovably connected to the carriage plate 36 and overlie side edgeportions of the slide plate 40. See FIG. 5. The top surface of bottomplate adapter 34 and the bottom surface of slide plate 40 must beparallel within 0.003 inch over any distance of 6 inches.

The left-hand end of the bottom plate adapter 34 in FIG. 2 is providedon its bottom surface with a pair of downwardly extending and converginglegs 44 which are connected to a horizontally disposed piston 5 46 bymeans of a pin 48. The piston rod 46 is slidably received in a bore in acylinder head 50 and has its longitudinal axis parallel to said adapter34. The right-hand end of the piston rod 46 in FIG. 2 is connected topiston 52 disposed within the cylinder 54. Cylinder 54 is integral withthe bracket 38.

Conduit 56 has one end in communication with the cylinder on one side ofpiston 52 by way of the cylinder head 50. Conduit 58 has one end incommunication with the opposite side on the piston 52. Conduit 56 isprovided with a flow control valve 60. Conduit 58 is provided with aflow control valve 62. Each of the conduits 56 and 58 are coupled to aspool valve 64. A source of air is in communication with the spool valve64 by way ofconduit 66. Air from the valve block manifold for trippingthe spool valve 64 is supplied thereto by way of conduit 68.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 3 and 4, the upper surface of the bottomadapter plate 34 is provided with a longitudinally extending channel 70extending for the entire length of the adapter and having a depth ofapproximately onehalf the thickness of the adapter. Holes 72 and 74 areprovided in the bottom adapter 34 along the length of the channel 70.

In order to form the bottle 30, the mold halves 22 and 26 cooperate witha seat 76 having a stem 84 extending through a pad 80. The stem 84 isremovably coupled to the bottom adapter plate 34. Likewise, the moldhalves 24 and 28 cooperate with a seat 78 having a stem 86 which extendsthrough a pad 82. Stem 86 extends through holes 74 in bottom adapterplate 34 and is removably coupled thereto.

Each of the stems 84 and 86 is removably coupled to the bottom adapter34 in the same manner. Hence, only the structure associated with stem 84will be described in detail. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a lever 88 ispivotably connected to axially spaced clevises 90 and 92. Lever 88 isdisposed alongside the bottom adapter plate 34. A plunger 94 is fixed toclevis 92 by means of pin 96. A transverse bore 98 is provided in thebottom plate adapter 34.

The bore 98 extends from one side of the bottom plate adapter 34 andterminates short of the opposite side. A reduced diameter bore forms acontinuation of bore 98. Plunger 94 extends through the reduced diameterbore and terminates in a head 100 within the bore 98. Spring 102 biasesthe head to the left in FIG. 4, thereby maintaining the clevis 92 inengagement with a side face of the bottom plate adapter 34.

In this position of the elements, the head 100 extends into a transversebore 104 in the stem 84, thereby removably latching the stem 84 to thebottom plate adapter 34. As will be apparent from FIG. 3, the bore 104has the same transverse dimensions as the bore 98.

The means for removably latching the stem 86 to the bottom plate adapter34 is identical with that described above. Each of the removablelatching means is actuatable by the lever 88. In order to remove seat 76or 78, it is only necessary to grasp the lever 88 and cause the same tomove downwardly in FIG. 3, thereby compressing the springs until theplungers heads are removed from the bores in the stems 84 and 86.Thereafter, the seats may be manually raised. The latching anddelatching of the seats is accomplished without the use of fasteners ofany kind and is done manually without the use of any tools. As a resultthereof, latching and delatching of mold seats is accomplished in arapid manner so as to minimize any downtime ofthe machine.

The manner in which bottles are formed at a blow molding station of an1.5. machine is well known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, itis not deemed necessary to explain the same. It is believed that thefollowing explanation of the apparatus illustrated would be sufficientin order for a man skilled in the art to understand the presentinvention. After the mold arms 14 and 16 move to their mold openposition as shown in FIG. 1, motive fluid from conduit 68 trips thespool valve 64 whereby motive fluid from conduit 66 will flow throughconduit 58 and cause the piston 52 to move to the left in FIG. 2.Depending upon the size ofthe bottles, the length of piston travel maybe short on the order of flve-eighths of an inch. Movement of the piston52 to the left in FIG. 2 causes the bottom plate adapter assembly andits bottles and 32 to move to the left in FIGS. 1 and 2, therebypositioning the bottles in a location whereby they may be moved upwardlywithout interference with the mold halves.

After the bottles have been removed by tongs or other takeoutmechanisms, the motive fluid from conduit 68 ceases to operate on thespool valve 64. This causes the valve member in spool valve 64 to shiftto a position wherein motive fluid from conduit 68 flows through conduit56 and moves the piston 52 to the position as shown in FIG. 2.Thereafter, partially formed bottles may be positioned between the moldhalves and the mold arms may move to a closed position. Thereafter, thepartially formed bottles will be blown to the completely formeddisposition by conventional apparatus, not shown, and thereby assume theshape of bottles 30 and 32 which were formed during the previous cycle.Thereafter, the process is repeated.

It should be apparent that conduit 56 is vented to atmosphere whenconduits 66 and 58 communicate by way of spool valve 64. Likewise,conduit 58 is vented to atmosphere when conduits 66 and 56 communicateby way of spool valve 64. The motive fluid is preferably pressurizedair.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, ratherthan to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope oftheinvention.

lclaim:

I. A glassware-forming I.S. machine comprising a frame supporting a blowmold station thereon, said station including a bottom plate adapter forcooperation with mold halves, a vertical post having a fixed axisadjacent to the adapter for rotatably supporting mold arms on which moldhalves are to be supported for limited pivotable movement with respectto said post and for cooperation with said adapter, means for enablingbottles to be removed from between mold halves by selectivelyreciprocating the adapter horizontally toward and away from thelongitudinal axis of the post after the mold halves are pivoted to anopen disposition so that the bottle adjacent the post may be removedeven though the mold halves would not otherwise permit such removal,said means including a cylinder supported by the frame in a positionbelow the elevation of said adapter, a piston in the cylinder, a pistonrod having one end connected to the piston in the cylinder, said pistonrod being generally parallel to the direction of movement of theadapter, a member interconnecting the piston rod and said adapter sothat movement of the piston causes movement of the adapter, and meansconnected to said cylinder for introducing a motive fluid into thecylinder on opposite sides of the piston for selectively moving thepiston within said cylinder.

2. A glassware-forming machine in accordance with claim 1 including moldseats removably supported on said adapter at spaced points on saidadapter, said mold seats including a stem, each stem extending through ahole in the bottom plate adapter, said means for removably coupling theseats to the adapter including a plunger for each stem, each stem havinga hole receiving one of the plungers, said bottom plate adapter having apair oftransverse bores, each plunger being in one of the bores, andmeans for selectively moving the plungers along the bore to facilitatelatching and delatching of the stems with respect to the bottom plateadapter.

3. A machine in accordance with claim 2 including a mounting bracket, acarriage plate on the bracket having a channel on its upper surface, aslide plate on the bottom plate adapter received in said channel, aclamp bar secured to the carriage plate and overlying a side edgeportion of the slide plate, said bracket including a cylinder containinga piston, a piston rod having one end connected to said piston, theother end of said piston rod being connected to said bottom plateadapter, the longitudinal axis of said piston rod being generallyparallel to said bottom plate adapter.

4. A glassware-forming I.S. machine comprising a blow mold stationhaving a horizontal bottom plate adapter having two mounting holes in arow, a vertical stationary post perpendicular to said row adjacent theadapter for rotatably supporting mold holder arms mounted for limitedpivotable movement from a closed position over the adapter to an openposition wherein they are spaced from one another, means for selectivelyreciprocating the adapter horizontally toward and away from thelongitudinal axis of said post when the mold holder arms are in theiropen position so that the bottle adjacent the posts may be removed eventhough the mold halves would not otherwise permit such removal, saidmeans for moving the adapter including a stationary cylinder supportedbelow the adapter, a piston in the cylinder, a piston rod having one endconnected to the piston, the longitudinal axis of said piston beingparallel to a line interconnecting the axes of said holes and thedirection of movement of the bottom plate adapter, a memberinterconnecting the other end of the piston rod and said bottom plateadapter, and valved means connected to the cylinder for selectivelyintroducing a motive fluid to opposite sides of the piston within thecylinder to effect reciprocation of said adapter toward and away fromthe post when the mold holder arms are in their open position.

5. A machine in accordance with claim 4 including a mold seat removablysupported in each hole on said bottom plate adapter by means of aspring-biased plunger which extends into a hole means in a stem on theseat, said stem being vertically disposed and extending into the bottomplate adapter, said bottom plate adapter supporting said plunger andspring.

6. A machine in accordance with claim 5 including a manually operablelever connected to said plunger for moving said plunger in a directionwhich compresses said spring and withdraws the plunger from said holemeans.

